5 Boroughs, 5 Bridges and 26.2 miles

I finished the ING NYC Marathon! It was a fun race, and I'll write about it later. My Garmin had me finishing in 5:16:26. I'm a little concerned because my official race results are not up - even though the scores of people behind me are up. Hmmmm.

I have a sinking suspicion that the bib tag failed me. Anyway, here's the info from the Garmin.

NYC Marathon: Packet Pick-Up

I went to packet pick-up this morning. I got there just after it opened and the line was long and snaking. But I got in got my bib in about 15 minutes time. The race shirt was nice - a blue, long sleeved shirt with all 5 boroughs named on it. But I couldn't stop myself - there were some other cute shirts that I bought. Yes, now I have a selection of NYC Marathon race shirts.

The official race shirt is on the bottom. The NY Apple shirt says 26.2011.

Lululemon's Port-a-Potty Window Display

I thought it was funny and very appropriate for Marathon Week!

Countdown to the 2011 NYC Marathon

I did a short run through Central Park this morning - the lower loop. I wanted to familiarize myself with the last few miles of the course, which I know will be the toughest for me. As you might know, there was a snowstorm that blew through this past weekend and did a lot of damage to the Park. As many as 1,000 trees were damaged.

They've put all the cleared branches to the side of the road, but it goes for quite a bit. Along Central Park South, it really does change the view from the Park. Anyway, I kept trying to imagine what I'd be feeling like at miles 24 and 25, and part of the reason I wanted to run this portion, besides keeping my runs this week short, was to really prepare myself for when I do hit miles 24 and 25. I figure at that point in the run I'll be bargaining with myself, and it's much easier for me to do when I know what's up ahead, to know that when you think you're turning to the finish, you're really not, you've still got about half a mile until you turn into the finish. I'm preparing myself mentally... until I see this:

(except I imagine it will be much more crowded). Then I will be very, very, very happy! It was fun to see the race preperation. They even built a walkway over the course on the 72nd street traverse. Now, I think it would cruel, though, to make marathoners walk up 2 flights of stairs and then down 2 flights to cross the street. I'm hoping that's for spectators. One scary thought, though, is I read it will take an hour from crossing the finish to getting out of the park. This marathon will be a full day event!. I just hope I won't need one of these at the end.

Garmin, You Served Me Well

My Garmin has died. Nothing I try gets it to work again. It had a short, but eventful life and went with me on many, many runs and races.

Do the Dash, Do the Monster Dash!

So, half marathon #12 is done. It was the Monster Dash in the Twin Cities. I ran this with SM. She was a running buddy from Washington, DC and we had run a couple of marathons down there together. She and her family moved to Minneapolis and I thought it would be fun to visit and run together.

SM had suggested the race. I had hoped, since this is a Halloween race, to dress up in costume, but as you can see. It didn't really work. Although, thanks to GF: I was a panda bear in the dark.

It wasn't the most creative costume, I admit. But it was something. I had wanted to be a bee, but couldn't get my act together in time to make one. I'm glad because bees were a popular outfit on the run. There were some really great costumes out there: pac-man and the ghosts, Sesame Street characters - including the count, angry birds, batmans and batgirls, gumby, crayons, pilots who actually gave away airplane pins to kids along the route, a mustard container - with a sign saying 'I like these buns' running next to a hot dog whose sign said 'my main squeeze.'

But my favorite was the American Gothic painting. I could never have done that. You really need arm strength for that. I could barely lift my arms by the last few miles to pump up hills, let alone carry a painting/picture frame. I don't know how that guy did it, let alone still wear the costume after the race was over! Next time, I will dress up. I think it'd be fun to do a run in costume. Granted - I did do that once - when I was the Statue of Liberty, and I learned from that experience, never wear a toga that goes down to your ankles when you're running through water, mud and over obstacles. I am still proud that the torch made it through the entire mud run intact, though.

Ok, the race report. It was 32 degrees at the start of the race. I know - St. Paul at the end of October - it shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. It was cold - cold enough to see my breath cold. We started near the Cathedral, which was really pretty. Once we started running, it was good. I was able to ditch the gloves (did take off the hood) and actually I think the cold helped me run and helped my recovery. It was a crowded field - over 10,000 runners for the half and the 10 miler. There were a lot of water stops and the route was scenic. And even with the cold, there were people out cheering. That said, the downside was the last 3 miles. The 10 milers ended and got bused to the finish, along the same route we were running. It was kind of depressing. The last 4-5 miles or so was also all highway miles - no shade and not a lot of people. It was kind of sad. We ended down the hill from the Cathedral. There was cups of water, bananas and little brown bags of sun chips and a nut roll to munch on at the end. There was also beer, but it was 36 degrees by the time we finished, and frankly, it was too cold for a beer outside in sweaty clothes. All in all, it was fun run with SM!

But I think the next time I go to the Twin Cities, I'll go in the summer!

Chili Goat Cheese

When I was in San Francisco to run the half marathon, I had this really yummy Cowgirl Creamery Green Chile goat cheese. The shop made a sandwich out of it with jelly.

Last week I was at the Union Square farmer's market and I saw a really cool chili stand. I bought one, thinking I'd use it in a stir-fry. But the more I thought about the more I wanted to try and make that cheese. So I roasted the chili (which I was roasting some acorn squash - multi-tasking - and set out some plain goat cheese I bought.

After the chili cooled, I took off the skin, took out the seeds in from inside and chopped it up. I mixed it into the goat cheese and re-set it in a log shape. About an hour later, i had some with blueberry jam atop a freshly baked biscut. It was yummy! I like the way the heat plays off the sweetness of the jam.

Anyway, instead of running, I thought I'd write about this and fulfill the eating part of this blog!